The box office results for the weekend of September 21st – 23rd sees a cluster of newbies occupying all the top spots with so-so numbers. Although it could be anyone’s ballgame, once the official results come out on Monday afternoon, it appears that Jake Gyllenhaal and Jennifer Lawrence are battling it out for #1, and will be able to hold-off the latest product starring old Clint Eastwood. The other new guy, Karl Urban, well, his 3D product barely made its way onto the field. Here are the studio estimates:

1. End of Watch ($13 million)

10. ParaNorman ($2.2 million)

Analysis

Let’s work our way up from the bottom shall we…

ParaNorman currently holds the longest streak in the top ten with 6 weeks. The spooky animation distributed by Focus Features has now reached $52.5 million domestically.

Early award favorite, The Master, plowed its way into an additional 773 theaters after opening in just 5 last week. With all the buzz, and the patent slow roll-out initiated by The Weinstein Company, the jury is currently out on whether the $35 million production budget will be an issue. By the way, here’s a review for The Master that has one of the greatest headlines ever.

Dredd 3D, a scaled-back comic-book based product, and a reboot of the 1995 installment, just doesn’t have the stateside following Lionsgate was hoping for. Which begs the question: What were they thinking? The ’95 edition starred Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider and Armand Assante, and it only snagged a grand total $34.6 million domestically during its respective run. So it’s not like any one would be clamoring for more. While the reviews from the lovely critics are surprisingly favorable, the flick is going to have to rely on international profits to justify making this $45 million piece.

Working our way up to the other new releases, let’s pause and take a moment to acknowledge that the Resident Evil product is losing its luster with American audiences. Plummeting 68% in week #2, and having the “advantage” of 3D ticket prices, Retribution is about to become the lowest grossing installment in the franchise. Granted, the international totals will save this piece that costs $65 million to produce, but perhaps Screen Gems should save some cash and just release part six outside of U.S. soil.

Clint Eastwood, usually a surefire box office draw, may have earned more on opening weekend if they put up his “chat with a chair” on the screen instead of this recycled sports/drama. The production budget for Trouble with the Curve has yet to be released by Warner Bros., meaning they might be embarrassed, due to the fact that this opened far below expectations. And it’s definitely a low-point for a film starring Eastwood. With the weak opening weekend, look for this to slowly fade away, but probably perform slightly better during the weekdays.

House at the End of the Street is turning out to be one of the worst reviewed horror movies this year. In trying to get a jump on the Halloween crowd, there’s a solid chance this won’t even be in theaters by the time Halloween rolls around. Made for just $16 million though, and the ever-growing following Jennifer Lawrence has attained, perhaps Relativity Media will once again earn a profit after a DVD/On-Demand run. Relativity Media rarely uses the red ink my friends.

Open Road Films continues to make its presence known as it continues to competitively distribute with the big boy studio. End of Watch could end up winning the weekend once the Monday actuals are released. Either way, the hand-held camera cop drama is already on its way to earning money during its theatrical run thanks to a trim production budget of $7 million. Sleeper Hit in the making.

This Friday, expect the run of lackluster openings to cease with the arrival of Looper, Hotel Transylvania, Won’t Back Down and Pitch Perfect hitting theaters. Reviews will be right here my fellow Shocker!